There's a journal on here of someone in Malaysia as well living really cheap but with a pretty good quality of life. I think from what I've seen, Malaysia is one of the best for quality : cost of life.

Ah yes, I do believe I've stumbled upon it, and read quite a bit of it a while back. I don't recall the members name.

I think SE Asia in general offers quite a bit of value.

In Poland where my family is from I have a paid for flat I could stay in most of the year, so the only fixed recurring costs would be utility/cell/food. The dollar has about 1.5-2X the purchasing power there, and one could live a modest middle class lifestyle on ~$1-1.5k/month if they forgo a vehicle.

@2Birds - interesting video. He was determined to spend every last baht. I'd love to see the video where he lives on his normal budget.

I traveled quite a bit in Eastern Europe after I quit (though not Poland) and agree it can be done economically. I was staying with friends for a good portion and it made things even more affordable. Over the next couple years I want to try living on some different continents. I noticed in the video the guy was staying during prime season, which made me think about arbitraging seasons to save even more when needed.

I can imagine your conversation with family will be interesting. I'm pretty sure I have a couple family members that think I "lost my job." I mumble something about "I'm just taking a break and figuring out ways to work alternatively blah blah." I can appreciate that explanation may not work with your SO's family.

One of the most appealing things about ERE to me is getting to live your life "off peak". Whether that's running errands and using services mid week while everyone is working, or going skiing on a Wednesday morning during the work week. Being able to travel off peak season and enjoy the many great things which are ruined by hoards of people sounds wonderful.

Thailand sounds like it's very wet or hot off peak, but still might be awesome to visit.

I think on his blog he mentioned that he spends about $1000usd/month on his normal budget, likely doing a bit more of the touristy stuff and more western food. But I imagine even as a freelance software/web developer he's gotta be making a lot more than $12k/yr net.

I feel excited, restless, and stronger wanderlust with each passing day.

I'm working through the exit plan, which would be very simple if I were single. With my fiance in the picture, things are a bit more complicated. She is younger, has only been working for a few years, and has a much lower income/savings rate. We want to adventure together, but she will need to continue working so we will take long breaks together, and I may return to work when she does to help her achieve complete financial independence. There are 3 very low cost trips/travel we are looking to do once I can unplug in the next 12-18 months. When I leave work will determine which order we will attempt them, and whether or not we can do them back to back or if working in between will be something we want/need to do.

SE Asia - 6 months (~$18k for two people including all flights/tourist stuff)
Europe - 6 months (~$18k for two people including all flights/tourist stuff)
Thru Hike Appalachian Trail - 6 months (~$18k for two people including all gear/flights/tourist stuff)

There is plenty of padding in those budgets. We would aim to spend less, with that being the maximum I would anticipate.

I would like to perpetually travel after we knock these off the list, my SO will need to continue working, if I go back to a high paying job I can help her get to get own ERE # much faster.

I can also see myself trying to develop passive/semi passive income streams once I have no job to go to. If passive income > combined expenses she wouldn't need to work.

Regardless what happens once we quit our jobs the first time around, the fact that I have a date I'm working towards is very motivating.

I went for a MTB ride today, which was cut short due to my buddy getting a branch stuck in his wheel and busting a handful of spokes. On my way home I pass by my local bike shop, which is owned by someone I know from racing triathlon, and I purchased my fat bike from them. I decide to pop in and say hi.

You see, a month and a half ago they posted that they were hiring. Looking for some seasonal help behind the counter to ring up customers, answer calls, and do some general retailing operations. I messaged the owner and half jokingly told him I was interested in chatting more about it. This was before I got to the point where prospective megacorp told me they wanted to move forward.

Well, it came up in conversation and they haven't hired anyone yet. I'm going to come in one evening around the time they close to talk more seriously about what they would be looking for, and what kind of compensation (trivial, I'm sure) they would be willing to offer.

Working at a bike shop is something I would do for free just for the learning experience. I could apprentice as a bike mechanic and do that as well once proficient. I'm strongly considering this option.

On the down side, I would be forfeiting a $7,800/month gross salary (w/ 401k match), and lose my benefits. Which is a pretty hard pill to swallow.

I would be making just enough money to pay my expenses but no longer save/invest/fund my retirement accounts.

It would essentially be semi fire without really touching the portfolio, and just letting it grow while I earn enough to get by.

Each month of work at current job allows me to save $4k/month which is significant, and I'm still a ways away from being truly FI.

On the other hand, it would be a fun job that would be a great learning experience. The commute is 15-20 minutes by car, or 30-40 minutes by bicycle, and it IS bike-able.

If I average 3 x 8 hour shifts and the pay was $15/hr I would be taking home in the neighborhood of $1,200/month. With 4 days off a week..... during a very nice part of the year.

When was the last time you had a minimal wage (or close to) type job? I'm not sure how different a bike shop is, but I've always found dealing with customers, handling the cash register, anything where you're face to face serving people retail wise is quite miserable work. How many hours/week would you consider working there and what if you don't end up enjoying it?

I wonder if the bike shop would be more "chill" though. Has to be better than Walmart-esque places at least! Maybe you would get more laid back people coming in there. Now I want you to take that job so that I can hear about your experiences

I got a call from the company I had interviewed with and they expressed interest verbally 3 weeks ago.

I asked for too much money, so the offer got stalled in the HR approval process. It's being escalated. If they meet me at my requested amount I will take the job. It will temporarily consume me with commuting time, but I think the experience will be worth it in the long term.

Lots to think about for sure.
I would like to explore the world and gain some more perspective on how people live, what life outside of my own corner of the world looks like, and I think that the ability to come back to work a few more years will always be there (given health and the economy still exist).

I am trying to find what I achieved with all the travels I did. They are memories, photos - really wonderful memories. but after that? And I want to hear from people like you who want to travel the world.

Lots to think about for sure.
I would like to explore the world and gain some more perspective on how people live, what life outside of my own corner of the world looks like, and I think that the ability to come back to work a few more years will always be there (given health and the economy still exist).

I am trying to find what I achieved with all the travels I did. They are memories, photos - really wonderful memories. but after that? And I want to hear from people like you who want to travel the world.

I see what you are saying. I guess at the end of the day, our perceptions are our reality, and if you strip away everything else in our lives, our memories and what is in our heads is all we truly own.

I'm more than happy to spend a few years making memories, meeting new people, gaining perspective I would otherwise not have, and also figure out where in the world I may want to settle for longer periods of time.

On an unrelated note. I found this interview with @Jacob on a podcast and really enjoyed it this morning.

I've been reading more, and listening to a lot of podcasts. Since I'm still in limbo with my current employer (feels like I'm working 1-2 days most weeks), and the weather was unusually cold and wet in the Northeast the past two months, I've had a ton of downtime to do so.

Our new fiscal year started on April 1st, and they finally hired a manager for my team! Finally I will have some accountability and hopefully direction.

I received an update from the company I had been interviewing with, and my requested base salary offer has been escalated to their SVP level for approvals. Things move slowly, but apparently the job is not completely off the table. If I get the offer and accept, I will have 10-14 days off to enjoy between jobs, and the weather's getting nicer!

On the health and fitness front things are going well. With the warmer weather the past two I've been able to get out more for runs and mountain bike rides. Usually during the middle of the workday when it's mostly peaceful or there are retired folks on the trails. My weight is down to 207 lbs as of this morning, which is the lightest I've been in just over 2 years. I have a goal to get under 200lbs by Memorial day, which would be the lightest I've been since November of 2014. I picked up weight lifting a bit more seriously, and already worked up to a 225 x 8 bench press and 315 x 8 deadlift for 3 working sets, I won't squat since I'm running/MTB 2-3 X a week.

This morning I read through this journal from beginning to end, and I had such a feeling of gratitude for this community, especially anyone who has chimed in with advice, perspective, or challenged my way of thinking *cough* C_L, TB, ST, Viktor, wolf, Jason *cough*

I've been consuming as much ERE content as possible, from the various corners of the internet. Jacob has inspired a lot of people to challenge the status quo, and the rest of the FIRE movement is still way too focused on careerism and consumerism......

Unless the stock market corrects beyond 20% and stays there by Fall of 2019, then I have a few potential events to consider before taking my gap year.

The first date to stick it out to is October 1st, when I will be able to have my 401k fully funded for 2018.

The next "event" will be earning enough income to max Roth IRA for 2019, at the end of February.

The third milestone will be June 15th, where I should hit the 401k max for 2019.

The last one will be September 15, assuming no commission that would max out the 12% tax bracket for 2019.

At that point, I will be looking to take an exit. I'll have to return to work mid 2020 to get the final stretch of the way to a sub 4% WR, which assuming the markets don't implode, should only take another 2-3 years of full time work, which I may or may not do in one straight shot, or opt for some other semi ERE lifestyle with PT/Seasonal/Sporadic work to let the funds grow in the background.